The Unvarnished Jesus: A Lenten Journey

The Unvarnished Jesus: A Lenten Journey PDF Author: Brian Zahnd
Publisher: Spello Press
ISBN: 9780966842104
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 198

Book Description
The Unvarnished Jesus is a forty-six day Lenten journey taking the reader from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday on a quest to encounter Jesus in a new and startling way. These forty-six daily meditations on the life and ministry of Jesus drawn from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are a spiritual solvent to help remove the layers of lacquer comprised of political and cultural assumptions that prevent us from seeing just how challenging and compelling Jesus of Nazareth really is. The Unvarnished Jesus is a forty-six day project to restore the incomparable image of Christ.

Church Comes Home

Church Comes Home PDF Author: Dave Barnhart
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1791007341
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 174

Book Description
People have lost faith in all collective institutions: government, corporations, the media, and the church. We are in the midst of a spiritual disaster, a flood of biblical proportions, and house churches provide lifeboats for people who are seeking a more authentic, life-giving form of Christian community. Many people remember that the early church started in homes, but they don’t understand that house churches are still a legitimate and viable model today. House churches can create the intimacy so many people are hungry for. They can nurture life-changing discipleship for individuals and create justice-centered communities. Networked house churches can become truly diverse, multi-ethnic communities that spread the Gospel by emphasizing practices over programs. These communities de-center the preacher, opting instead for grassroots organizing, but they are not leaderless — they are leader-full. This book provides an alternative model for denominations and established churches to consider. It will help pastors reconnect with the traditions of community organizing, itinerant preaching, and discipleship training that sparked Methodism and other church movements in the United States. Church Comes Home offers alternative ways to look at some of the problems facing our church and our culture.

Leading with the Sermon

Leading with the Sermon PDF Author: William H. Willimon
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506456383
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
In this addition to the new Working Preacher Books series, prolific author William H. Willimon makes the compelling case that two key pastoral tasks--preaching and leadership--complement, correct, strengthen, and inform one another. Preaching is the distinctive function of pastoral leaders. Leadership of the church, particularly during a challenging time of transition in mainline Protestantism, has become a pressing concern for pastors. This book shows how the practices, skills, and intentions of Christian preaching can be helpful to the leadership of a congregation. It will also show how leadership is an appropriate expectation for sermons. In preaching, pastoral leaders can help a congregation face its problems and coordinate its God-given resources to address those problems. Sermons can be an opportunity to articulate, motivate, and orchestrate God's people in doing God's work in the church and in the world. Leading with the Sermon includes chapters on why pastors must be leaders, why preaching is such an essential task in telling the truth about the gospel, how preaching makes better leaders, and how better leaders make better preachers.

Backstory Preaching

Backstory Preaching PDF Author: Lisa Cressman
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 0814645380
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Book Description
Instead of being a dour task on the checklist, what if the process of homily prep renewed you? Instead of feeling insecure about your message, what if your skills made you confident to preach a consistently clear message of Good News, authentic to you, relevant to your listeners, holding their attention and inviting transformation? Backstory Preaching: Integrating Life, Spirituality, and Craft shows you how. By integrating your life and spirituality with the practical skills necessary for effective preaching, you can move beyond the boredom, stress, or insecurity of preaching so it is no longer you who preach but Christ who preaches in you. By connecting with God in the midst of your sermon prep, the Gospel will be spread deeper and further. God’s joy—and yours—will be made complete.

The Worship Sourcebook

The Worship Sourcebook PDF Author: Emily Brink
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 9780801015915
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The Worship Sourcebook is a collection of more than 2,500 prayers, litanies, and spoken texts for every element of traditional worship services held throughout the seasons of the church year. This indispensable resource for worship planners and pastors includes texts that can be read aloud as well as outlines that can be adapted for your situation. Teaching notes offer guidance for planning each element of the service. Thought-provoking perspectives on the meaning and purpose of worship help stimulate discussion and reflection. This second edition includes new and revised liturgies, additional prayers for challenging situations facing today's church, and new appendices.

By Water and the Spirit

By Water and the Spirit PDF Author: Gayle Carlton Felton
Publisher: Upper Room Books
ISBN: 0881776580
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 142

Book Description
By Water and the Spirit, a 6-session study guide for use in small groups, contains the full text of the paper "By Water and the Spirit," which describes the United Methodist understanding of baptism approved by the 1996 General Conference. This booklet serves as a resource for congregational leaders who are helping members make connections between the baptismal covenant and discipleship in daily life.

Isaiah 40-55

Isaiah 40-55 PDF Author: Robert Reed Lessing
Publisher: Concordia Commentary
ISBN: 9780758602688
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Isaiah 40 55 contains some of the best-known, most-cherished, and theologically significant texts in the Bible. Isaiah 40 55 provides us with the vocabulary and conceptual framework to understand the nature and purpose of the Father s mission in and through his Son, Jesus, with the Spirit.

Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal

Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal PDF Author: Carlton Young
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781426756801
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 940

Book Description
Includes for each hymn in the Hymnal historical background of text and tune; suggested uses for today;name origin;text/tune changes over the years; commentary on Hymnal treatment; and theological base of texts.

Journey of Stones

Journey of Stones PDF Author: Steven Molin
Publisher: CSS Publishing
ISBN: 0788019325
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 60

Book Description
Drawing on the rich imagery of rocks and stones in scripture, these powerful messages center around the compelling metaphor of stones (and our willingness to throw them) as representative of our sins. As worshipers enter the sanctuary they are invited to pick up stones as a concrete symbol of each sermon's theme; then as the message concludes the stones are placed at the foot of the cross. When the stones disappear on Easter (just like the stone sealing Jesus' tomb), it's a vivid illustration of how the Lord also removes our stones of sin. Each chapter includes several thought-provoking discussion questions to spur further reflection. With messages for Ash Wednesday, five weeks of Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, this is an excellent resource for Lenten midweek programming. Molin takes us on a journey of prayerful and honest repentance -- a powerful and life-changing journey of celebration, of grace, of awe at the miracle of the empty tomb and the promise of life.... Pastor Molin is one of the best sermon story-tellers I've heard. But each sermon and every story also teaches a biblical text. These sermons are grounded in the living Word of God... (from the Foreword) Glenndy L. Sculley, Bishop's Associate Minneapolis Area Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Steven Molin is the senior pastor of Our Savior's Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Stillwater, Minnesota. He has also served parishes in Oregon and South Dakota, and been an area director for the youth ministry organization Young Life. Molin is a graduate of Concordia University (St. Paul, Minnesota) and Luther Theological Seminary.

Thy Kingdom Come: Lent and Easter Sermons by David H. Petersen

Thy Kingdom Come: Lent and Easter Sermons by David H. Petersen PDF Author: David H. Petersen
Publisher: Emmanuel Press
ISBN: 9781934328071
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Book Description
This collection of sermons arises from the culture of an active parish life as a part of its usual worship routine. With over sixty sermons spanning Pre-Lent, all forty days of Lent, and the Sundays after Easter, this book now serves as an excellent daily devotion for both pastors and parishioners. Distinctive in his preaching style, Pr. Petersen fluidly interweaves the words of Holy Scripture with his own, immersing us in the text and applying Law and Gospel with sharp insight. As Luther explains in his catechisms, preaching the Word brings the kingdom of heaven from Christ, through the Holy Spirit, to the individual, always pointing us to Christ and Him crucified, died, and risen.